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Specialist
Specialists have mastered all leadership performance standards during operations. They are expected to be senior mentors, and can orchestrate unit operations. Leadership Survival. Whenever possible, the leading members should make an effort to preserve themselves. This becomes more important the higher in the chain you are. If you're an Associate, you're most expendable, with the Specialist being the least expendable. Survival is accomplished by acting in a fashion that will not put you at extraordinary risk or single you out to the enemy. Know the job of the leader above and below you and be prepared to assume those role. Know the role of the leader below you so that you can most effectively command him and his troops. Know the role of the leader above you so that you are able to take his place if he becomes casualty. Be clear and concise when giving orders. Being able to give an easy to understand order during the heat of combat and getting your teammates to work towards accomplishing it can turn the tide of a battle. Brevity is critical to understanding as everyone in a firefight is going to have to worry about many things at once, and having to concentrate on a long and wordy order from their element leader will cause nothing but trouble. Decide quickly and act. You do not always have time to figure out the perfect way to approach things. Being able to decide on a good plan and get it put into play as rapidly as possible is more valuable than spending a large amount of time thinking of the perfect plan and trying to implement it. "A good plan now is better than a perfect plan later". This is especially true when combat is ongoing and every second of delay puts you further behind the curve. Task by name, especially when bullets are flying. Saying that "Someone needs to grab that rocket launcher" is not a decisive order, and since nobody is singled out specifically, it may be forgotten or ignored in the confusion of battle. Call people by name and task them directly and you'll see that things will get done much faster. Avoid micromanagement. Leaders need to let leaders lead. It sounds blindingly obvious, but it has to be said. Orders should be given that allow a subordinate to get them done in the way that they deem to be best. Exercise tactical patience. Tactical patience is defined as "giving a situation enough time to develop and unfold before trying to determine its meaning, significance and how to react to it". There will be times where the leaders will have to sit back and allow the situation to unfold, without trying to jump in and start giving orders before it is prudent. Exercise disciplined initiative. One of the core aspects of our group's leadership mentality is the ability to make decisions and act on their own in a disciplined manner that aligns itself with the higher commander's intent. Leaders are expected to be able to make good decisions. They are able to do this on their own when the situation requires it, without having to consult with the higher commander for permission. It is a sign of our trust in our junior leaders and it gives them the freedom to adapt to a rapidly changing situation. Decision Preparation Prior to the combat phases of a mission, leadership is concerned with a variety of things that are intended to maximize the chance for friendly success while at the same time minimizing the possible influence or impact of the enemy. * Where is the enemy? Finding the enemy is always extremely important. If you were in his position, where would you be? * Are elements moving according to orders? If they are not, find out why from the senior member in charge of the given element. If their reason is a valid tactical consideration, shift their orders to account for it. If they have no reason, redirect them towards the proper course of action. * Are the elements within supporting distance of each other? A team that is off on its own can be cut off, surrounded, and destroyed before the other teams can react and move into supporting distance. * Are there any gaps or weaknesses that the enemy could exploit? Is security being maintained, especially when moving? Leaders should pay attention to the spacing and drift of the elements, and adjust accordingly to ensure a solid collective formation. * Are key elements moving in a position from which they can do their job with short notice? If important assets are lagging behind the formation or are otherwise out of place, the whole formation will need to slow down to accommodate them. * Is a point element being used? If not, should one be designated? Are scouts being properly utilized? * Does everyone know what to do when contact is made? Guidance will need to be given about what to do if contact is made in a specific fashion, or in a particular area. * Are the rules of engagement clear? It never hurts to ensure that everyone is crystal clear on the rules of engagement and what their fire control order is. * Is the situation as described in the brief? If not, do changes need to be made? It is important that leaders are able to identify discrepancies between what is supposed to be seen, and what is actually seen. Combat Once combat has begun, leaders work to get an understanding of the tactical situation so that they can employ their troops most effectively. * Where is the enemy? How many of them are there? What weapons and special assets do they have? * Have your troops deployed properly? Are they taking up good positions? If not, are there better positions nearby that they could fight to? * Has fire superiority been achieved? Is the enemy being suppressed? Are they fixed by your fires? * Are special assets in the fight? Can any supporting assets be brought to bear? * Can you win the fight from where you are? Can you win with the tactics you're currently employing or plan to employ? Is there a better way, and if so, what would be required to execute it? * Are friendly flanks protected and has security been established? Are troops watching for the enemy's flanking attempts? * Are there any vulnerabilities with how the enemy has positioned himself? Anything that you can exploit to gain a tactical advantage over them? What about the enemy's flanks or rear? * What friendly elements can be maneuvered? What elements can support? Should you flank the enemy? Pincer them? Assault? * What is the enemy currently doing? '''Can you prevent them from being effective? Are you preventing them already? * '''What is the enemy likely to do? How can you best prevent the enemy from being effective if they do what you think they will do? * How is the fight progressing? Are casualties being dealt with appropriately? Can you still win the fight? Consolidation After the fight has been won, leaders work towards consolidating, establishing security, finding out the status of all units, and then getting their troops into shape to fight again if need be. * Has security been established? Nothing should happen until it has been. Security includes checking the enemy to ensure that they're dead or captured, moving to the best positions possible, and establishing perimeter security screen around friendly forces. * What is the status of friendly forces? Get reports from all elements as the time and situation allow. * Is aid needed? Are casualties tended to already, and are they able to tend effectively with the gear they have? Has an casualty station been established? * Does the friendly force need any reorganization? '''If leadership casualties were taken, have replacements stepped up and taken charge of their respective elements? * '''Have casualties have been sustained? Do any elements need to be merged with other ones to bring them back to an effective state? Do key weapons and ammo need to be redistributed? Have key weapon systems been recovered? * What is the next step in the mission? Since operations usually involve more than one mission, it is important to remember that everything you do is meant to get you back into shape to fight another engagement. Mission * Ambush: Conduct a surprise attack by fire from concealed positions on a moving or temporarily halted enemy. * Attack: Take offensive action against a specified objective. A general all-embracing term to describe offensive operations. Use a more specific task when possible. * Block: Deny enemy access to a given area, or to prevent his advance in a particular direction. A blocked force can move in any direction other than the obstructed one. * Breach: Break through or secure passage through an enemy defense, obstacle, or fortification. * Clear: Remove all enemy forces and eliminate organized resistance in an assigned area. * Counter: Attack against an enemy attacking force. An imprecise task, open to wide interpretation. Normally better to specify the effect required. * Delay: Prevent an enemy force arriving at a specified location either: for a specified length of time; or until a specified time or event. * Deny: Prevent enemy use of a specified thing. * Destroy: Damage an object or an enemy force so that it is rendered useless to the enemy until reconstituted. * Fix: Prevent an enemy from moving any part of his forces from a specified location for a specified period of time * Locate: Determine the position of a specified thing. * Neutralize: Render an enemy element temporarily incapable of interfering with the operation. * Screen: Observe, identify, and report information on threats to the main force. Only fight in self-protection. * Seize: Clear a designated area and obtain control of it. Order Get the attention of junior leaders before beginning orders. As a leader you can simply ask for each subordinate leader to identify themselves, then begin your order once each leader has reported in. If you start talking before you know that people are listening, it can lead to missed orders and confusion over what was said. * Use clear and unambiguous language. Vague statements lead to confusion and are open to interpretation. Being specific helps to avoid any issues that might stem from misinterpretation or confusion. * Be concise. When employing clear and precise tactical language, a lot can be said with a few standard words. Lengthy, meandering orders can be difficult to follow and do not have the same focused impact that concise orders do. * Set clear, quantifiable goals that leaders understand and can work towards. The more your junior leaders know about what their goals are, and the better they can quantify them, the better they will be able to judge their effectiveness in the scope of the larger mission. Clear goals give them something to work towards and let them know when they've accomplished their task. * Strive for elegance through simplicity. The more complicated a plan becomes, the more chance there is for it to fail. * Convey the Commander's intent. Commander's intent is simply what you intend for your unit to do in the scope of the mission, as described in the above section. This allows for junior leaders to exercise judgment in the mission more easily. * Ensure that his orders were understood. The best way to do this is to ask an element leader to read back what their orders were. This way, any misunderstandings between what was said by the leader and what was heard by the junior can be resolved before bullets start flying and it's too late. * Allow time and opportunity for questions. Giving junior members an opportunity to ask questions ensures that they go into the mission knowing everything that they think they need to know, at a level of comprehension acceptable to them. * Ask questions if necessary. By the same token, if in doubt about anything, a leader should not hesitate to ask questions of his subordinates. * Solicit the input of the leaders of subordinate elements and special types of units. Giving your subordinate leaders an opportunity to chime in regarding the plan and their role in it brings a variety of perspectives to the table and generally results in good feedback and suggestions. Awareness Write down anything important that you may need to remember later. This could be the responsibilities of specific elements, the formations used, or what vehicles have been assigned to your element. Think of what issues might arise with the orders being given. Is there anything that you can think of that needs mentioning or clarification? Listen to what the other elements are being told to do and ensure you are familiar with the full plan. It is extremely rare for anyone to operate in a vacuum where the actions of other friendly forces have no impact on them. Assume nothing. Ask questions if you are unclear on anything. It is the responsibility of all members to ask questions that help them to fully grasp what their orders are. Read back what you understand your orders to be. A read back is a technique by which a subordinate repeats the plan as he understands it to his leader. Doing this allows both the leader and subordinate to know that they have the same understanding of the plan. Avoid distractions. Being distracted during a verbal briefing is a common way to misunderstand something or miss out on key information. Effectiveness As a leader, you can identify combat ineffectiveness by paying attention to some key indicators. While there are multiple things that can cause each of these issues to occur individually, the combination of several of them typically points to a state of general combat ineffectiveness. * Extremely sluggish or lack of coordinated movement. If the element is unable to move in a coordinated fashion, or move in general. * Lack of response after giving orders. If the element leaders are no longer speaking in response to your orders, you have potentially incurred leadership casualties, or the situation has become so demanding that your element leaders do not have time to talk. * Lack of response when asking for replacement leaders to step up. If the element leaders have become casualties, and there is no response when prompting for their subordinates to assume their roles, you are very likely looking at a critical casualty level in the overall element, and the associated lack of combat effectiveness. * Lack of firing from units. High casualties may become obvious by the lack of friendly units firing from a given location. * Lack of communication. Is nobody in the element is talking, calling contact reports, or giving orders? You may be at critical combat effectiveness, and need to assess the state of your element immediately. Category:Structure